OT, Safeways > Morrisons

In message <[email hidden]>,
MartinM <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League

and they are particularly bad when it comes to supermarkets?

Quoted message said:

I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway,

As someone who lived in Yorkshire , pleased isn't the term I'd use....

Quoted message said:

as we only have the
two stores in town. To my horror I have now found out that Safeways is
closing next month to become a Waitrose. This effectively means that we
do not have a local value supermarket. Was there not some sort of
proviso in whatever deal was done to ensure that Morrisons maintained
stores in locations without effective competition?

no I don't think so, there were requirements re them not having too many
stores in an area - so they had to sell off some stores in areas where
they had existing Morrisons. There weren't requirements for them to keep
stores. That's not how 'competition' policy works in this country. You
imagine there would be some sort of body classifying the supermarkets in
terms of their price level and then saying oh well we need one of these
here and one of those etc?

Quoted message said:

I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want; affordable
groceries.

There was a good reason why when I had the choice of Sainsburys, Asda,
Safeways and Morrisons. Morrisons was bottom of the list.......

--
Chris French

chris French said:

In message <[email hidden]>,
MartinM <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League

and they are particularly bad when it comes to supermarkets?

they consistently seem to cost more than Morries, Asda or Tesco for
pretty much everything. And don't have anything like as many sensible
special offers. And their range is just so goddam boring.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway,

As someone who lived in Yorkshire , pleased isn't the term I'd use....

I agree Safeways was better, but have always found Morries very good
when up North. I shall now be driving over to Asda once a week,
stopping in en route at Aldi for bike gear etc.

MartinM said:

To my horror I have now found out that Safeways is
closing next month to become a Waitrose. This effectively means that we
do not have a local value supermarket.

Since when was safeway ever a value supermarket? unless you only ever
bought their loss-leaders, it was always almost as expensive as
Waitrose, and a lot more expensive than Tesco, Asda, or even Sainsbury
- of course their loss leaders, were genuine loss leaders, and that's
why the company got in such dire straits that Morrisons could pick
them up so cheaply.

Unfortunately Morrisons are also not doing well, and thus the need to
sell of stores it can get rid of for good prices.

With some little guesswork, I'd say you've got quite an Iceland too,
and quite a few other supermarkets what is a relatively short cycle
away, including another Morrisons family just 6 miles on quiet roads
away.

Assuming it's one of the 5 recent sales to Waitrose, the OFT have not
yet published a decision on their website, that could mean they have
not yet reached one, in which case there is still hope for you
although I've no idea of the procedure on how you'd make a comment to
them.

If the OFT thought 6miles in a pretty rural area was too far for a
trip to a 3rd choice supermarket, the whole country would be even more
covered in supermarkets than now!

Cheers,

Jim.

Quoted message said:

I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want; affordable
groceries.
Bah!

Eh? It's a supermarket - everything is affordable. Buy the white economy
lines and it's all cheap as chips.

Jim

Quoted message said:

Assuming it's one of the 5 recent sales to Waitrose, the OFT have not
yet published a decision on their website, that could mean they have
not yet reached one, in which case there is still hope for you
although I've no idea of the procedure on how you'd make a comment to
them.

They've already started dismantling the store so probably too late. Yes
we have an Iceland, great for frozen food but more or less a
convenience store for anything else; I have yet to return from there
with every item on SWMBO's list.

The nearest Morrisons is now 13 miles away. The writing was on the wall
as you said when Morrisons acquired Safeways, any stores not big enough
for the full Morrisons treatment were asset stripped, I suppose I
should be thankful it didn't become Somerfield like some have. Waitrose
has some very good food, far better than any of the others, but for a
general store its not even trying to compete.

Mark Thompson said:

Quoted message said:

I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want; affordable
groceries.
Bah!

Eh? It's a supermarket - everything is affordable. Buy the white economy
lines and it's all cheap as chips.

I have been trying to find out why a litre of fresh orange juice in
Sainsburys is £1.99 and yet one and a half litres is £3.03!!.........
I never thought I would mention it here though......
Sean.

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway, as we only have the
two stores in town. To my horror I have now found out that Safeways is
closing next month to become a Waitrose. This effectively means that we
do not have a local value supermarket. Was there not some sort of
proviso in whatever deal was done to ensure that Morrisons maintained
stores in locations without effective competition?
I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want; affordable
groceries.
Bah!

What was Safeway in Swaffham was sold off to Waitrose. When Nathan went to
school in Swaffham I often used to use Safeway. Waitrose is *horrendously*
expensive, even on supposedly everday stuff. I'm glad I no longer have
Swaffham as my 'local' supermarket town.

The local Morrisons in Dereham is okay - indeed I shop there more than
Tesco. Tesco is simply too big - too much of a market share, so I make a
point of shopping elsewhere when possible.

Cheers, helen s

Response to :
<supermarket stuff snipped>

Our local Safeway was pretty good: the Morrisons which replaced it has
much less choice, and in particular a seriously [censored] meat dept.- it just
*looks* very iffy, and the few cuts we bought went off in just a day or
so, well inside the BB date. (Before you ask, our fridge is fine!)

Somerfield's a bit better, but smaller & without much choice. No other
supermarkets in town. :-(

OBcycling: one of the real advantages of a bike when shopping is that you
can visit more & better small shops: if I can, I'll go to the greengrocer
& butcher rather than the supermarket. Can be more expensive & take
more time, though, especially if the bookshop is between the two. ;-)

--
Mark, UK

"Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my
way across the room."

Quoted message said:

I have been trying to find out why a litre of fresh orange juice in
Sainsburys is £1.99 and yet one and a half litres is £3.03!!.........
I never thought I would mention it here though......
Sean.

Better than that, I keep finding things saying stuff like "wossnames,
£1.49" with a sticker over it saying "reduced to £1.89"

Then there's the 250ml of orange juice that cost as much as the (exact same
brand) 1 litre juice (tho that was in somerfields).

MartinM said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway, as we only have the
two stores in town.

Bah. Our safeway became a morrisons. At first it was good: a nice
range of interesting stuff, and much better prices than before.

Recently they had a big PR launch of the 'new' morrisons. And?

...

Muzak:-(

I've no idea whether their range and prices are worth looking at now,
because I'm not exposing myself to that torture long enough to find
out. So it's an extra ten miles across the moors to Tescos whenever
I want a supermarket other than the much smaller local ones.

--
Nick Kew

Mark McNeill said:

Response to :
<supermarket stuff snipped>

Our local Safeway was pretty good: the Morrisons which replaced it has
much less choice, and in particular a seriously [censored] meat dept.- it just
*looks* very iffy, and the few cuts we bought went off in just a day or
so, well inside the BB date. (Before you ask, our fridge is fine!)

Somerfield's a bit better, but smaller & without much choice. No other
supermarkets in town. :-(

OBcycling: one of the real advantages of a bike when shopping is that you
can visit more & better small shops: if I can, I'll go to the greengrocer
& butcher rather than the supermarket. Can be more expensive & take
more time, though, especially if the bookshop is between the two. ;-)

I wish I could even walk to a greengrocer, I think it is now a candle
shop.
Don't know anything about meat not having eaten it for n years, the
fish counter in Safeways is OK but that may change when they axe their
Aylesford distribution depot. I get the impression that Safeways is
still operating as an independent chain with a lot of Morrison's stuff
brought in, while they re-organise themselves.

MartinM said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway, as we only have the
two stores in town. To my horror I have now found out that Safeways is
closing next month to become a Waitrose. This effectively means that
we do not have a local value supermarket. Was there not some sort of
proviso in whatever deal was done to ensure that Morrisons maintained
stores in locations without effective competition?
I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want;
affordable groceries.
Bah!

Asda's adverts have got to be the most annoying ever!

MartinM said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway, as we only have the
two stores in town.

SInce our Safeway became Morrisons, prices have gone up, range and quality
have gone down. They frequently run out of common fruit & veg. NOT an
improvement IMO.

Tim

wafflycat wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

What was Safeway in Swaffham was sold off to Waitrose. When Nathan went to
school in Swaffham I often used to use Safeway. Waitrose is *horrendously*
expensive, even on supposedly everday stuff. I'm glad I no longer have
Swaffham as my 'local' supermarket town.

So I guess Waitrose don't conform to the 'never knowingly undersold'
mantra used by the rest of the John Lewis group, then?

The Luggage

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So I guess Waitrose don't conform to the 'never knowingly undersold'
mantra used by the rest of the John Lewis group, then?

Well, they do more-or-less

The problem is, they don't stock "budget" or even "cheaper" brands. So
their price for the "top brand" will usually be less than in Tesco or
Sainsburys - which is OK if you only want top brand and nothing else.

In the same way as you can find stuff cheaper in Argos than John Lewis,
it's just not the same stuff.

Also sprach Adrian Boliston <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Asda's adverts have got to be the most annoying ever!

I used to think that, until aSnibsruy's started using Mr. J. Oliver, the
Saviour of the Skool Dinnah and Fat-Tongued Mockney Wankah, may Stan have
mercy on his worthless soul.

However, being an idle sod I am not disposed to travel farther afield to
stock up on BEER and pies than my local aSnibsruy's...

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
If you want a bicycle, buy a bicycle. If you want something that
folds, buy a deckchair.

MartinM said:

As a founder member of the Anti-Sainsbury League I was very pleased
when Morrisons got the go -ahead to buy Safeway, as we only have the
two stores in town. To my horror I have now found out that Safeways is
closing next month to become a Waitrose. This effectively means that we
do not have a local value supermarket. Was there not some sort of
proviso in whatever deal was done to ensure that Morrisons maintained
stores in locations without effective competition?
I see Sainsburys have just stuck another two fingers up at the British
shopper by putting pictures of Jamie Oliver all over their stores and
the TV when they should be offering shoppers what they want; affordable
groceries.
Bah!

Heh. I guess Sainsburt's's happy with it's business model. We have always
had a Morereasons near our local Sains. We buy most groceries for the
family of us and teenagers at Morrisons, and Booze and Friday Night ready
meals from Sainsberries. Better range of booze, nicer ready meals.

--
Nobby

Dave Larrington said:

Also sprach Adrian Boliston <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Asda's adverts have got to be the most annoying ever!

I used to think that, until aSnibsruy's started using Mr. J. Oliver, the
Saviour of the Skool Dinnah and Fat-Tongued Mockney Wankah, may Stan have
mercy on his worthless soul.

However, being an idle sod I am not disposed to travel farther afield to
stock up on BEER and pies than my local aSnibsruy's...

Well I think pies (or more often pizza) and BEER comprises a lot of the
M family shop. Plus Sainseeb's (as my youngest used to call it) are
very meat and two veg orentiated.

One store that has been fairly ignored in this thread is of course the
all-conquering and blandintheextreme Tesco, although I am loathe to go
shopping in a store which is likely to drop onto the railway line
underneath myself.

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

One store that has been fairly ignored in this thread is of course the
all-conquering and blandintheextreme Tesco

And displaying a geographical bias, I shall give honourable mention to
Booths, who have the finest selection of beer I've ever seen. Not sure about
their pie department though.

Coop deserve recognition for actually having decent labelling on their stuff
(beer included) and of course being a coop.

[That's it for supermarkets within 15 miles of me, and they're both nice and
small. I'm not complaining - the fact I can't buy an entire range of
childrens clothing and CDs at a food shop doesn't bother me.]

cheers,
clive